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Writers in prison (infographic)

Ola Kowalczyk ⋮ Updated on May 3, 2022

One way to limit freedom is to ban the book. The other one is to imprison the writer.

A great visualization shown below gives a very interesting context to freedom of writing and publishing.

Prepared for Corriere della Sera by Milan-based information design agency Accurat, the infographic presents major cases of deprivation of freedom of speech in 30 countries around the world.

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The infographic is based on a report prepared by The Writers in Prison Committee of PEN International. The committee was established in 1960 in response to increasing attempts to silence voices of journalists, book authors, and activists. It currently monitors the cases of 700-900 writers, and creates campaigns on issues affecting freedom of expression.

At a first glance, “Writers in prison” chart doesn’t seem easy to understand, but take a closer look – it’s definitely worth analyzing.

Every case is illustrated by two signs. Square on the left describes the event. Black square stands for killing, olive for imprisonment, orange for threat. On the right, there is a symbol describing the activist. Filled triangle is a journalist, outline triangle is a writer, filled circle stands for an activist.

In 2012 there were 10 cases of deprivation of freedom of expression in United States – four of them were threats. The largest number of threats was recorded in Mexico (thirty). It’s also Mexico where the largest number of activists were killed – as much as eleven – including six journalists.

If you think Iran, China or Syria are the countries with the largest number of cases in 2012, you’re wrong. It’s Turkey. Most of the events in this country were the acts of imprisonment. For more than one-fourth of actions it was impossible to get any information.

“Writers in prison” is not the first infographic prepared by a talented team from Accurat that we share on Ebook Friendly. Take a closer look into the analysis of the writing style of J.K. Rowling.

Click or tap on the image below to see it in full resolution.